Buy again or rent? WWYD?

[Dillydollydaydream]

Our house is sstc and our buyer is keen to move in ASAP. We're moving to a different area and after losing a house we liked we need to get moving very quickly but haven't found anything that comes close.

Do we buy a make do house or do we rent and wait ril something we do love comes along?

I have never rented so don't know much about it tbh.
Would it be a mistake to step off the property ladder or not?
WWYD?

I'm sure not everyone will agree but personally I would rent.

But I am speaking as someone who did the opposite nearly 4 years ago and has spent a couple of miserable years in a house we don't like. We have been trying to sell it at a loss (having also spent about 8K on it ) since october.

It depends how much equity you have and whether you can get another mortgage easily etc. I have just sold and will rent as our purchase fell through but already have had a few agents ringing offering good deals on houses as they know we are no chain and so what we will save on the price will pay the rent

Thanks.
My first house we lived in I hated.

I sold my flat when pregnant and hastily Bought a house which in hindsight was a big mistake.
Lived there for 18 months before selling.
I'm worried about the same happening this time as our arm is really being forced by our buyers :(

Rent of course.

I wouldn't buy another house that was just to "make do", when your dream house does come along you may not be able to sell the make do house. Better to rent, but take my views with a pinch of salt as I've only ever been a renter - buying a house is still a far off dream at the moment.

Would planning to rent for 6 months while you decide what to do be an option?

Rent. Definitely. Makes your sale much less stressful and less likely to collapse if you struggle to find somewhere, and makes you the ideal buyer next time as you don't bring a chain with you. Gives you ample time to look and wait for exactly what you want. And prices more likely to dip over winter than to rise.

Renting is nice - a bit like a holiday.

We're looking to possibly rent in the same area we'd buy so wouldn't make a difference in terms of which schools the children go to.
My DH drives 45 mins to an hour to work at the moment so he said the money he'd save on petrol would go towards the money we made on the house. Our deposit would still be high enough if we bought at a later date.
Renting doesn't worry me, I just have no experience of it as
I bought my flat at 20.
Do LLs let you paint (thinking of kids bedrooms)?

Rent, you will be ablr to look at leisure and be in a much better position to buy.

Well, definitely feel better about renting.
Relieved I think. Wasn't sure if it'd be a silly thi g to do so wanted some impartial views. Parents will probably think we're mad but think we're too set on owning property in this country.

Some LLs will let you decorate, most won't on a 6 month let because they prefer neutral colours for reletting. Having to cover fluorescent pink with magnolia isn't fun...

Ah fair enough.
Maybe if its magnolia I could just buy them some removable stickarounds to make it more homely for them

If you factor in moving costs it would be more sensible and hopefully more cost effective to rent.
Also, as others have said, you will be in a better situation, if your dream house comes along.
Another factor, you will be able to suss out the area, schools etc. Before you commit to buying in a particular area.

Yes, good point about sussing out the area.
As long as house prices don't shoot up in the next 6-12 months we'll be fine :)

We sold in the "old "area then rented in the "new" area whilst we waited for something we liked. We also had 2 young DCs - we stuck their pictures etc to their wardrobes etc which were painted and so wouldn't be damaged by a bit of blu tack. Most tenancy agreements let you have a "reasonable" amount of pictures up provided you use proper picture hooks so you can make it more homely.

I think the fact that we lived in the "new" area before we bought was such an advantage, gave me lots of opportunity to befriend the local estate agents, get to know the area better (whittled down precisely which roads I wanted to live in) and the fact that we could move quickly when we found something was definitely an advantage.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

The cost of buying a "make-do" house would make it madness to move for less than a few years. Think of the various charges (solicitors, surveyors) and taxes applied to every step of the process, and think of repeating that again within two years.

Add to that uncertainty about house values (especially outside of London).

No way.

I meant "madness to move sooner than a few years"!

We're renting after 11 years of home ownership. Feels a bit weird as now have 3 kids and feels a bit unstable but I think were in the area we want for catchment and with prices flat round here (dropping I think), we're no worse off than mortgage. Interest on equity in bank pays half the rent and the other half would have just gone in mortgage interest anyway. Also we are in fab position to buy and were saving all that potential stamp duty.

I can't lie it does frustrate me that I can't do the house how I want and it all has a temporary feeling but the flat above flooded the bathroom 2 weeks ago and it was so liberating to call the landlord and offload the problem.

Thanks for sharing lolly.
We also have 3 children and wondered whether it would be madness to rent rather than buy again. We sat down and did the math yesterday and worked out with stamp duty etc etc we could rent for 2-3years before we'd be worse off.

I really loved mu current house on the first viewing and want the same this time instead of buying somewhere that's just 'OK'.
That might be a but unrealistic though?

We are in exactly the same situation as you. We are about to exchange on our sale but our purchase fell through. We are also relocating (about 170 miles !!) and have decided to rent there whilst we try and find another house we want to buy.

I have not rented for years so will be a shock to the system - but want to make sure we find the right house, as we don't plan to move again for a long time.

We had 2 children, actually had Number 3 whilst we were renting! We'd owned our previous house / houses for about 8 years before we rented.

I think it was great actually - there was a bit of gardening to do, but the house had been refurbished before we moved in (new carpets etc) and nothing major went wrong. The central heating failed one weekend and we did have 36 hours without heating or hot water as the agent wasn't contactable until the following Monday morning, but after that we got an out of hours contact number for emergencies. I think its just a question of making the most of the situation - no DIY, no maintenance, someone else's responsibility so had lots of fun family weekends instead of having to leave H at home to do jobs.

Just thinking of all the money we'll save on DIY.
Every room has been redecorated in my current house at least twice in the 6 years we've lived here. We've replaced the kitchen and all bathrooms too. We'll have loads of time together! (hopefully a good thing).